Although the history of the recorder stretches over a period of 700 years, it has only been since a couple of decades that recorder players managed to attain a high standard and professional status.

In the past 50 years, Dutch recorder players have played a leading role in the origin and development of an instrument that, for 150 years in the history of music, passed into disuse. Frans Brüggen during the 60s, Walter van Hauwe and Kees Boeke from the 70s and onward, played major roles in this development. Having been an internationally renowned recorder player for decades, Van Hauwe inspired the next generation of recorder players. Amsterdam quickly developed into a center of progressive recorder music, and became a breeding ground for old as well as modern music. This has been a fascinating 20th century development in the history of the instrument.

‘Blockflute Masters’ is a seventy-minute concert documentary that acquaints us with Dutch authorities in the field of recorder music, their views and memories, all of which accompanied by live music on stage. The program consists of an integration of early and modern music, solo and chamber music, video footage – interviews, narratives and abstract images. The video fragments, sometimes displayed in the foreground, and sometimes used as a dynamic background set, continually alternate with events on stage. During this concert, music from several centuries will be performed, spanning from baroque to present-day music. Parts of the documentary, named after the event, will be shown in between the music compositions.

Jorge Isaac
Jorge Isaac (b. 1974, Caracas) completed his professional training under the tutelage of Walter van Hauwe at the Amsterdam Conservatory in 2002. Soon after, in 2006, he was appointed as Recorder Professor at the Amsterdam Conservatory.

Jorge Isaac has been awarded several international prizes, such as the International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition 2001 (including the special prize "best use of electronics") in The Netherlands and the Krzysztof Penderecki International Competition of Contemporary Music in Poland (2001). In 2004 he was awarded the first prize at the Jur Naessens Music Award in Amsterdam with his multimedia production "Mensa Secunda". In 2007 he received an Award of Distinction at the Prix Ars Electronica in Austria for his work "Marionette".

As a soloist, he has given a large number of performances and masterclasses over the globe. He is currently involved with concerts and recitals, early and new music projects, multimedia performances, his teaching activities at the Amsterdam Conservatory and large scale productions together with the Visisonor Foundation.

Walter van Hauwe
Walter van Hauwe has shown his long relation with the traditional recorder-literature not only as a soloist but certainly also as a co-founder of the ensembles 'Quadro Hotteterre' (1969), together with a.o. Kees Boeke (recorder, and 'Little Consort' (1979). He played the recorder as well as the flauto traverso in many performances and recordings with a.o. Nicolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonardt and Frans Brüggen.
In 1971 he was co-founder, together with Frans Brüggen and Kees Boeke, of the controversial, experimental blockflute-ensemble 'Sour Cream'. The discoveries made here on recorder-techniques and interpretation of a great variety of music styles, covering a period of more than 6 centuries, were written down by Van Hauwe in a three-volume professional method: 'The Modern Recorder Player', edited with Schott London and translated in several languages. His affinity with contemporary literature has only grown over the years and he inspired many composers, as Franco Donatoni and Isang Yun, to write for the blockflute.
Together with Kees Boeke, Walter van Hauwe founded in the 70's a controversial education system, the BLOK (block), a system which has become a conception for numerous recorder players around the world, and still of vital importance in the Recorder Department of the Amsterdam Conservatory.
Van Hauwe founded and devoted many years to the very detailed 'Catalogue of Contemporary Blockflute Music' (www.blokfluit.org). Together with the 'Catalogue of Historical Recorder Repertoire', this database provides 'all' the original titles written for the instrument from the 16th century until today.
In 2002 Van Hauwe received the prestigious Dutch 'Prins Bernard Music Award' for his complete oeuvre. Recordings can be heard on Telefunken's 'Das Alte Werk', Vanguard, Columbia-Denon, RCA, CBS, on 'Attacca' and Channel Classics/Moeck Verlag. On regular base Van Hauwe is producing for Channel Classics.

The virtuoso ensemble BLACK PENCIL was founded 2010. The debut concert of the ensemble took place in the same year at the prestigious Amsterdam Concertgebouw, followed by the world premiere of new works during the large-scale festival Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture.
Black Pencil focuses on new repertoire (all works specially written for the ensemble) and adventurous own arrangements with the influence of folk cultures.
The instrumental core of the ensemble consists of Blockflutes (Jorge Isaac), Panflute (Matthijs Koene), Viola (Esra Pehlivanli), Accordion (Marko Kassl) and Percussion (Enric Monfort). Depending on the program, guest musicians are invited to enlarge the structure with instruments such as Oud or Electronics.
Black Pencil captures inspiration from the enormous contrasts within folk elements: sometimes is the expression complex and powerful, but other times subtle, soft, rich in its simplicity.
The motto of the ensemble is the presentation of exciting new music and sparkling improvisations, together with a unique instrumental setup. http://www.blackpencil.org/